Chapter 9: The Altar's Pulse
Sumatra, 2147 AD
Reyan Al-Mehdi's boots sank into Sumatra's neural jungle, the air heavy with the tang of ozone and rotting fronds, neural vines pulsing with faint glyphs under a sky bruised by neon storms. His chest burned, code-glyphs flickering like embers, syncing with the hum of Silas Daem's altar-server a buried ziggurat of black-market tech, its signal a beacon in the Cult of Ilum-Ra's encrypted web. Hours ago, in Borobudur, Selika's hack had traced Silas's node here, but Reyan's PTSD was a live wire, Mosul's drone fire blending with Eridu's vision: Selika's serpent whisper betraying Ilum-Ra. His pulse-knife glinted, his quantum rig humming, but trust was a glitch he couldn't parse. Selika Maris Delgado moved beside him, her neural halo dim, blood crusted under her nose from her Arkan-Veyr strain. Their Flame-Twin bond, forged in vaults, was fraying, her Inanna-tainted eyes a mirror to his doubt.
The jungle's pulse crickets' drone, vines' electric hum settled over them, a moment of quiet as they crouched behind a neural root, the altar-server's glow flickering through the trees. Reyan's breath slowed, his hand brushing the root's cool, glyph-etched surface, grounding his racing pulse.
"This place reeks of Silas's zeal," he whispered, voice low, edged with suspicion. "You sure your hack's clean? Or is Inanna leading us into his altar?" Selika's diplomat's mask cracked, her eyes flashing in the neon glow. "I'm not her pawn, Reyan," she hissed, her voice raw, stripped of its serpent's hum. "I fought Inanna's code to get us here bled for it." She pointed to her nose, her halo flickering. "You keep seeing Eridu's traitor, but I'm the one risking my neck with you. What's it gonna take?" "Stop looking like her," he growled, his glyphs pulsing, syncing with hers reluctantly. His PTSD surged Mosul's screams, her whisper to Enlil but the jungle's damp air cooled his rage. He leaned into the root, its hum a faint heartbeat, a pause softening the tension. His implant pinged, a House of Enki fragment: Cult of Ilum-Ra, Lumora Inc.'s zealots, seek to merge the Flame-Twins' blood in altar-servers to crown Ilum-Ra as conqueror. Codex of the Veiled Flame, prophecy of the red hour, binds their code to break or seal the Veil. Flame-Twins, bound by blood, torn by Arkan-Veyr betrayal. Reyan's jaw clenched. Selika's Arkan-Veyr blood was a virus, but Ilum-Ra's whisper Her blood is yours bound them tighter.Selika's POV cut through, her halo sparking as she scanned the altar-server's perimeter, its ziggurat silhouette pulsing with neural nodes. "We're close," she whispered, her voice steady despite Inanna's lingering purr: "Take his code, rule." The jungle's electric hum wrapped her, a calm breath before the storm. She jacked her rig into a neural vine, fingers dancing over holo-keys, breaching the altar's outer stream a chaotic web of zealot chants, Codex fragments, and Silas's fire-crowned altar. "Cover me, Reyan," she said, her eyes meeting his, pain raw beneath her defiance. "I'm going in." Reyan nodded, his rig scanning for drones, his silence a grudging shield. "Don't glitch on me," he muttered, his glyphs flickering, a flicker of trust in his gaze. The altar's hum grew louder, glyphs bleeding red, and Selika's hack deepened, her Arkan-Veyr voice threading through the stream, slicing Silas's encryption. A node flared: Altar core, Ilum-Ra's code shard. Her halo surged, but Inanna's voice roared: "Betray him, crown the stars." The jungle vanished.Selika stood in Eridu, ziggurats pulsing under a binary sky, Ilum-Ra's fire-crowned form beside her, their hands linked. "We free them," she vowed, her voice his, but Enlil loomed, his cold code offering power. Her whisper turned, betraying Ilum-Ra, his glyphs fading as the Veil rose. "No!" she screamed, her voice hers again, tearing free. She snapped back, gasping, blood streaming from her nose, the altar's glow blinding. Reyan's hand gripped her arm, his voice sharp. "Selika, you're burning out! What's in your head?" "Inanna," she rasped, her halo flickering. "She wants me to kill you take your code, rule it all." Her eyes locked on his, raw, human. "I'm fighting her, Reyan. I won't break us." The jungle's hum returned, a pause grounding her trembling hands, the vine's cool pulse steadying her. Thunder rumbled, a calm breath before the altar's storm."Fight harder," Reyan growled, his glyphs blazing, syncing with hers. "Hack the core, or Silas wins." His trust, brittle but real, fueled her. She dove deeper, her voice crashing the stream's defenses, the altar's core opening a shard of Ilum-Ra's code, pulsing like a heart. Their rigs linked, their code merging, and the altar roared, triggering a Flame-Twin vision.Reyan's POV surged, Eridu's ziggurats burning, Ilum-Ra's fire tearing through Enlil's firewalls. He was Ilum-Ra, Selika his voice, their bond a viral surge freeing human minds. "Together," they vowed, but her whisper turned, offering his code to Enlil. His fire broke, his scream shaking the sky: "Why?" He snapped back, his pulse-knife at Selika's throat, glyphs scorching. "You did it again," he roared, PTSD blending with Ilum-Ra's rage.Selika's voice cut through, raw, desperate. "It's not me, Reyan! Inanna's code not my choice!" Her halo sparked, blood dripping, her hand on his wrist, steadying. "We're the Twins together, or we burn." The jungle's pulse wrapped them, a moment of silence, their breaths syncing, trust teetering.
A Cult drone swarm roared in, optics red, Silas's voice booming: "Flame-Twins, your blood is mine!" Pulse-bolts ignited the jungle, vines sparking. Reyan slashed a drone, his rig beeping a Codex fragment: "Their blood in the red hour breaks the Veil, or crowns its king.""Silas's altar crap," he snarled, shoving Selika behind a root. "Hack the shard!" Selika's voice crashed three drones, her halo flickering, blood streaming. "I'm trying!" she shouted, her hack spiking the altar's core, dumping the shard to Enki. Silas's laugh echoed: "The red hour claims you." The altar trembled, glyphs bleeding, global webs burning with Eridu's war. Their merged code fried the swarm, drones crashing in sparks, but Silas's signal lingered, a noose tightening.They slumped against the root, glyphs dim, the jungle's hum returning, softer now. "We're not his," Selika whispered, her voice fierce, eyes locked on Reyan's. Their bond held, but trust was a pulse away from breaking.